JENN McKINLAY: I remember my very first library card. I was nine-years-old. It was from the East Lyme Public Library in Connecticut and it was the only card I had in my little brown wallet for YEARS. I thought it was my first step into adulthood. No more checking materials out on my mom's card! Hey, I was a kid. I had no idea what adulthood actually entailed. Oy.
Now, in this weird age of book banning and personal attacks on librarians, I realize how critical having a library card is.
Let's look at some of the perks:
FREE BOOKS AND EBOOKS - Yes, free, free, free!
ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGY - The Internet, databases, printers, copiers, 3D printers, maker spaces, and more!
QUIET ROOMS - I wrote many a book tucked away in a quiet room at the library.
FREE PROGRAMS - Concerts, cooking classes, computer classes, passes to local museums, etc!
SUPPORTS FREEDOM OF INFORMATION FOR ALL - A world without libraries is a very grim world indeed.
Libraries are not just about borrowing the latest novels, getting recipes from cookbooks, or taking your kids to story time, they are a place to exercise your right to information. All the information!
As a former librarian, even if you're not a regular library user, I implore you to get to your local library and sign up for a card. That's the assignment and you have the entire month of September to get it done!
Now, do tell, Reds and Readers, who has a library card? From where? And how many of you have more than one? (I have four)!
My current library card [just one] is from the Ocean County Public Library . . . .
ReplyDeleteRemarkable restraint!
DeleteYAY for libraries! My main library card is for the Ottawa Public Library. And I still have a valid library card for the University of Toronto, but haven't tried to use it in ages. I worked there as an adjunct/collaborative faculty member in the 2000s and there is no expiry date on the card.
ReplyDeleteI have cards from just about every library I've worked in - I get it!
DeleteSan Jose Public Library, Santa Clara County Regional Libraries, Sunnyvale Public Library (access to the USA Patent Library), Los Gatos Town Library, University of Santa Clara Law Library, San Diego County Law Library, Santa Clara County Law Library, and University Of California Library System.
ReplyDeleteMany cards for personal reading and others for professional research.
Susan
DeleteSusan, thanks for reminding me. I have the University of California Library system card. Diana
DeleteNice collection!
DeleteA very nice collection. And if you're ever in DC, the Library of Congress will give one to anyone! - Melanie
DeleteI have one for the Charlotte County Library System, FL. That was one of the first things I did when we moved here was to get my library card.
ReplyDeleteYes! I always check out the library first when I move.
DeleteGot my 1st library card at 5. Our kindergarten class walked to the Oceanside library and we all signed for our cards. No matter where I have lived in the 65 years since I have always had a library card.
ReplyDeleteAw, I love this so much!
DeleteMy first library card was for the Cragin Memorial Library in Colchester, CT. I still remember the id #. It was 4 digits, the first digit was the numeral 1. Small town, small library. I think I was in second grade when I got it. I borrowed Bobsy Twins books.
ReplyDeleteMy library kept me human during the pandemic, but first it was CLOSED. I bought my first Kindle and started to subscribe to Audible plus. I mailed two cartons of books to my friend, Anne in Florida that contained all of Debs's Kincaid/James series. Slowly the libraries began to open but the sharing was changed so you had to drive to the library in anther town if you wanted a book from them. I was driving all over the Capitol region to pick up books of new-to-me authors. The town next to mine, Bloomfield had THE best collection of mysteries and I drove there most often.
I learned how to borrow audiobooks and ebooks from Libby and Hoopla.
Things are back to normal now and I can ask for any book in the system and pick it up three blocks from my house. I love my library. Sometimes I buy books for them. In fact, Jim Benn's latest just arrived and I will bring it over later.
YES, thank goodness my library expanded the access to borrow library ebooks & audiobooks using Libby and cloudlibrary, respectively, when the physical branches closed during the pandemic lockdowns.
DeleteAs well as Hoopla, our local library has PressReader which gives access to many magazines and newspapers - free.
DeleteMy library also has the various e-book options. I don't use those myself but I can appreciate how it kept people sane when the libraries were shut down. When my library first opened up, you had to call and they would get the book and then it was curbside service for a while. I only had to take advantage of that once or twice. Otherwise, I was still able to buy books or just read the MANY unread books I have at the house to begin with.
DeleteNo way! I'm friends with the YA librarian Jennifer at Cragin! I've even done a talk there :)
DeleteJenn, what a huge coincidence! My local library is West Hartford, Bishops Corner. Wish you could come here!
DeleteAs a retired librarian and current library trustee, I raise my coffee cup to you this morning, Jenn. Support for libraries is always important but these days it's even more so. I have four library cards: for my town library in Avon, NY that gives me access to the 42 public libraries in a four-county system; for the Monroe County (NY) Public Library System; for the New York Public Library for access to their ebook collections and their research databases; and for the Wallace Library at RIT which I have access to as a member of the OLLI at RIT. And I use them all for various reasons. Somehow, I still buy lots of books. And I'd add one more important library service: early literacy programs. There is a lot of research that ties literacy to success in life (and not just financial success), Not to mention introducing kids to the joys of reading!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Chris. When I think about how mnay people are helped by their local libraries - my heart is full.
DeleteI just have the one library card to the Wareham Free Library but it can be used at any library in the SAILS system that the library is part of according to the library director. (I had a reason to ask the question, that's why I know)
ReplyDeleteThe library is where the mystery book club I co-run meets and they've done signings and other events all the time.
And I have been there, as featured speaker in the mystery club, no less!
DeleteBecause you are simply the best!
DeleteThat's a fabulous system. I love cooperating libraries sharing resources!
DeleteThat's one of the first things I do when I move to a new town - get my library card. I currently hold one for the Amesbury Public Library, which gives me access to the Merrimack Valley Consortium, a whole bunch of north-of-Boston libraries. I can request a book online and it will be within a few blocks' walk of my house within one or two days.
ReplyDeleteWe also often check out movies from the library, and I have a favorite standing desk upstairs to work at (well, it's a bar height table with stools, but I use it to stand and write).
We desperately need a modern addition to the 1905 building. There is NO elevator, for one. The population of the town has not been supportive in the past, alas.
EDITH: I am the same. Got my Ottawa library card on January 2, 2014, the first weekday I arrived in town. Ottawa has a good library collection & other services such as free admission to museums/galleries. But I do miss having my TPL (Toronto Public Library) card. It gave me access to over 100 branches, one of the largest public library systems in North America.
DeleteI forgot to mention how exciting it was to get my first library card as a child. We were a family of readers, I was the third of four kids, and I had to be able to write my name on the line in the space allotted. I immediately started checking out the maximum number of books/week. Never returned one unread.
DeleteGrace - why do you not have a TPL card anymore - did it expire? Have you ever tried to get another, as it is one card that I would love to have.
DeleteMARGO: When I last lived in Toronto (2001-2013), you had to renew your TPL card in person every year and provide proof of residency. Some library systems allow access to non-residents for a fee, but I don't think Toronto does.
DeleteI have study carrel under the stained glass window in the Civic Center Library in Old Town that is MINE - LOL.
DeleteExcellent essay, Jenn. And so important right now.
ReplyDeleteI've had a card for the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library for more than fifty years. I've also been a member of both the Mercantile Library, and the Lloyd Library, both amazing resources in downtown Cincinnati. The Mercantile, in particular, has a fabulous lecture schedule. And I've been able to find ebooks there that the public library has months-long waits for. Very handy during the pandemic, especially. The building is old, and being in the library space is like a return to the Victorian age. It's very beautiful, and everyone should visit.
Librarians were CHAMPS during the pandemic. Doing drive up service for materials, and online story times, truly, amazing.
DeleteCincinnati-Hamilton County Public Library System, all 41 locations, plus SearchOhio (all public libraries) and OhioLink (all colleges and universities). And at certain locations, free summer lunches and snacks in air-conditioned comfort, plus books and movies. During the pandemic, the system only closed for six weeks. They threw their acquisitions budget at ebooks, had librarians on phones helping parents select books for their kids which were delivered to a local branch, bagged, and delivered to patron's car trunks.
ReplyDeleteThat's amazing! Heroes!!!
DeleteI buy way too many books, but I do have a card from the Key West Library of course! This is my 4th year as president of the Friends of the KW library and I see up close and personal how hard they work and how important they are to the community! We cannot let the people who want to control what's in the library win! (It's still shocking to think about how all the libraries were closed during the pandemic...)
ReplyDeleteLucy, like many if not all, my local library has a Friends group. I'm not a member and don't plan to be. But I do go to their monthly book sales, so I at least contribute a tiny bit that way. A couple years ago, there was an opening on the trustee board and the library director at the time said I should try for it. But I told him that would be a terrible idea. I do not work well with others in that kind of setting. At least I know my limitations.
DeleteLibraries are key to democracy. There's truly nothing else like them in our society and the book banners can stuff it. Ahem...sorry. Sore subject.
DeleteLol, lol! I too, buy way too many books! Laughing out loud!
DeleteI too remember getting my first library card... standing on my tiptoes to reach up to take it from the big oak desk. That library was remodeled over the years, I grew taller than all the desks and librarians and moved away after college, and finally the library was demolished and rebuilt in impossibly grand lines. As an adult I have had library cards from all over the country, partly due to moves, partly due to research. One of the perks of a New York library card is that one can borrow anything online from the New York Public Library. I am always listening to audiobooks as I work outdoors and most of these are from the NYPL. My tiny local library is indefatigable in getting me out of print books for my research. Every so often I bring the librarians boxes of chocolates. I love libraries and librarians!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite patron brought us tubs of popcorn :)
DeleteAs a retired Reading Specialist, books and libraries are dear to my heart! My first library card number was 666. I wonder, if I were to go back to that town, would it still be good. Yesterday I picked up a few books and a a video I had requested from my library. The checkout receipt told me I had saved $1959.40 so far this year! And somehow I still manage to buy books too!
ReplyDeleteMy library card lets me request books from the Mohawk Valley Library System and more. I just went looking to see the list of the member libraries which I can always access, but I also get books from other libraries as well. Not exactly sure how it works but I request a book and sooner or later it shows up. The book I'm reading now came from a library that wasn't listed as a member of the MVLS so perhaps books can come from the entire region. But I don't have to know the nuts and bolts of that to appreciate the fact that my library enables me to get my hands - or at least my eyes - on almost any book I want!
I love it when they put the savings like that on the receipt!
DeleteMy library card is from the little town near my home. It is a member of the regional association of libraries which broadens our choices.
ReplyDeleteMost of the services are free. Small town = small budget so the popular novelties of the fiction section are for rent when they arrive at the library. It allows them to buy and to offer more new books and it is very accessible.
It cost one dollar a week and you pay only when you use the service. Put it on a 50 weeks a year: if I read 50 new books that I would otherwise pay an average of $25 each ( often more than that) , it allows me to read what my budget wouldn’t allow.
I’m curious to know if you have something like that at your library
Danielle
In what part of the world do you live, Danielle?
DeleteA little town in Quebec. Danielle
DeleteInterlibrary Loan is a national lending service. So long as your library has World Cat you should be able to get books from anywhere in the country.
DeleteDanielle, I just saw your comment. What an innovative way to pay for new books on a tight budget. I would sign up for something like that if my library offered it!
DeleteMy mother was a librarian, and I've used libraries for as long as I can remember. Here in Bern I have three cards: one to the public library, one to the university library, and one to the National Library, our equivalent to the Library of Congress. A perk of living in the capital city: I have access to every book ever published in Switzerland plus a superb reference room.
ReplyDeleteWOW, that is a great perk, Kim!
DeleteBrilliant!
DeleteCurrently have a card with the Tampa Hillsborough Public Library system. Valid for all the libraries both municipal and and county. The card like others described above is linked to the Tampa Bay Library Consortium, a multitype Library Cooperative that assists and empowers over 120 libraries. All types of libraries – public, academic, school and specialized – are members. With any luck, the consortium will include the University of South FL libraries. If I paid my alumni fees I would be able to use that source too. I also use a membership only library comprised of Buddhist materials.
ReplyDeleteExcellent. I imagine the Buddhist library collection is AMAZING.
DeleteI have a total of three—two local and one virtual. And I support my local library financially with a monthly gift. I, too, remember having my own library card with a metal strip that must have been used to emboss my name and card number like we used to do with credit cards. During the pandemic I was able to keep reading because of Parking Lot pickup access which was such a godsend. When I’m in Key West for a month I attend the Speaker’s Series at the KW Library and usually see Roberta along with an occasional other JRW member. I can’t imagine a world without libraries.~~Emily Dame
ReplyDeleteMe either. What a small sad world it would be.
DeleteI've had a library card every place I've ever lived. Currently have a card with the Milan-Berlin Public Library, which is one of 47 libraries associated with Clevnet in northeast Ohio. You can still access other libraries through interlibrary loans, but that's rare. Through OhioLink, Ohioans have access to online materials--every dissertation from The Ohio State University, for example. I work part-time at the library and one of the most satisfying things I do is register new patrons for a card. Just yesterday a mother brought her little girl to get her first card. Said child, smiling ear-to-ear, checked out her first of many books, I'm sure, on that card. During the lockdown, we closed for a short period, but quickly reopened to pick-up requests. Clevnet also issued e-cards online, so that anyone who wanted could have access to ebooks, movies, etc., through apps such as Libby and Kanopy. So far, our local library has not been subjected to harassment or book-banning attempts.
ReplyDeletePhew! Sounds like you live in a very reasonable community.
DeleteI have just one library card for the Rochester, MN Public Library. It also gives me access to libraries in an 11 county region of Southeast Minnesota. Thirty-nine years ago I spent the day at the library while my then fiancé was interviewing for a job at IBM.It is a way better facility now than it was then.
ReplyDeleteShout out to my niece who is currently working on her Master of Library and Information Science degree at Dominican University in Chicago while working two different part time positions at their library and doing an internship (20 hrs per week) at Loyola University.
YAY!!! We need more librarians!
DeleteI had a library card growing up. Now I have one from the Oakmont Carnegie Library, which does give me access to any library within the Carnegie system.
ReplyDeleteIf only I could find it...
I am fairly sure you are in their data base. Your card will be reissued. Speaking as one who has done this (replace cards).
DeleteLOL.
DeleteGreat public service announcement, Jenn! My parents were both librarians and my mom would be pleased and my dad would be "right chuffed". My twin and I were able to get library cards as soon as we could write our names. I still remember my scrawl and how pleased I was to have my own card, to browse the books and to dream about reading every book in the library. Shout out to Multnomah County Library here in Portland, our local library system. Mom was a children's librarian for MCL for many years, helped many families find materials, did school visits, and took her weekly turns on the telephone information line. I also had a library card for the 6 months we lived in Leeds, England. Their checkout system was a bit different.
ReplyDeleteMore recently, when my small group at church (Immigrant Welcoming Congregation team) was struggling a bit with google docs, our branch library provided a small room and a staff member with expertise to walk us through some of it on a Sunday afternoon.
A month and a half ago, my friend Hjalmer and I walked the Nicaraguan family of 5 (our church is sponsoring them) over to the same branch library. Even though it was a busy Saturday, a library clerk named Jennifer was very helpful. She was able to give them forms in Spanish to fill out, enter the data from the forms and from their Nicaraguan passports into the computer, and provide them all with library cards. The library had a small section of Spanish books and everyone checked something out. I was very impressed and wrote a little note for Jennifer.
*sob* I love your library and your library workers.
DeleteAmanda here: Cheering for libraries up here in Winnipeg Manitoba. Getting my card is always the first thing I’ve done when arriving in a new place. My local branch is an old and lovely building, recently renovated to make it accessible. While it was closed, we had to trek to a different more modern branch. Fine, but not charming like “my” branch. Also, librarians make the difference between a library being utilitarian and soul-feeding. So here’s a cheer for friendly helpful librarians. We love you!
ReplyDeleteThe friendly ones are my favorites :)
DeleteI was raised going to the library twice a week and checking out the maximum number of books allowed. (It was a lot tighter then!) Some of my fondest childhood memories involve my mom walking me to the library and back, toting bags of books each way.
ReplyDeleteI am currently Vice President of the Friends of Worthington Libraries and proudly hold a card to that system. Because all the area libraries (except for one stubborn subdivision) formed a consortium years ago, that card gets me access to the collections of everything in the greater Columbus area. The library is a huge part of my life and routine and I value it highly!!!
Susan, I lived in Worthington for years when I was a grad student and loved the library! Many happy trips walking to and from the library--lots of recreational reading to offset those grad studies!
DeleteYAY! I do think being raised to appreciate libraries makes a huge difference.
DeleteLibraries have always been important to me. My great-grandmother (a treacher and one-time School Committee member) was born several years after the Civil War; in the years before I was born, her second husband would take a weekly trip into town. He would hitch up his wagon and, first, go around to the neighbors, collecting library books to be returned and requests for other books, which he would collect and distribute after he returned from his errands. The library itself was a grand edifice that eventually became the model for the Springfield Town Hall in THE SIMPSONS.
ReplyDeleteFrom the time I started school, I wanted a library card, but you had to be ten years old to get one. When I finally did, my card was number 1148 (It was a pretty small town then, with maybe a population of 5000; it's grown more than eight-fold over the years). I remember joyfully spending hours going through unorganized stacks of old magazines in the dirt floor section of the library's basement.
I currently live on the Florida Panhandle where libraries are far less well-funded than in other areas I have lived. The library in my town is only about ten years old; the one in the next (larger) county is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Both are staffed by great people, but both appear hampered by state regulations. There are many books I request that are just not available through these systems. In contrast, in other systems I was once able to get a book (unknowingly) from a library in New Zealand, and was once sent a first edition Charles Dickens -- neither of which I had any right to expect.
I will continue to enthusiastically support my local libraries while hoping for better days, better funding, less state interference., and continued support fro my local librarians.
Jerry, so sorry to hear about the state of libraries where you live. I read the reports of librarians being harassed, fired, quitting, calls for libraries to be defunded, censored, with amazement and horror. Along with public education, our system of free libraries has always filled me with hope!
DeleteFlora: We readers may be quiet, but we are also willing to stand up to censorship. With every breath Ron takes, he moves away from his goal.
DeleteWhat a wonderful story about your great gran's second husband. He was a horse and buggy bookmobile :) It is my fondest hope that people start calling out politicians who try to take away their freedom to information. It's simply not right and not what America stands for.
DeleteI have 5 cards which gives me access to many more libraries than 5.
ReplyDeleteCape Breton Regional (local) which now covers all the libraries in Nova Scotia with the exception of the city of Halifax. Books can be requested from any of the libraries which opens up a huge new resource. Book Club Bags come from all of these now (a book club bag has 10 of the same books in the bag making book club literature free to all). Some of the libraries provide books, large print and cd’s of the book in the bag.
Halifax Regional library – ebooks and audio books only, but should I go to Halifax, I would have free access to anything on their shelves.
Ottawa Library – gift from my daughter when she lived in Ottawa. Gives access to the collection in 4 other libraries all of which have different collections, but unfortunately not Toronto. Only place I can find Joy Ellis books.
New Brunswick Library – gift from my grandson for Mother’s Day. Has a different collection of local books as well as the usual ebooks and audio.
Vancouver Public Library – my other son lives there, and he got me a card. This is the library where I get the most books for some reason. Authors found there most frequently include Vicki Delaney, and Peter May. They seem to not drop books from their collection the most – Ottawa is terrible for that.
How do I use my local library – let me count the ways. 1)To order a book book that either of us would like to read or to test run a book to decide if I want to buy it. He who harrumphs a lot is currently reading a tome on WW2 that really came out of the basement – last borrowed in the ’90s – probably won’t have a hold on it in the near future so lots of time to read it!, 2) Book Club – 10 of us get together every month to read a book, critique it most alarmingly, have tea and egg salad sandwiches, laugh a lot and be there for one another. We didn’t stop for Covid. 3) Jigsaw puzzles – there is always one on the table to be done anytime, or come in and do it with others who are there for craft day and chit chat on Thursdays. 4) Lectures – variety of talk on variety of subjects from archeology to health care to making rock paintings. 5) Get books & crafts in a bag for the grandkids. 6) Getting out of the house – if He who whatever gets annoying, I can always go to the library and do the puzzle. Sometimes you talk, sometimes you don’t…mostly we just exchange recipes. 7) When the librarian and I wrote the local magazine we would have staff meetings – well that was a laugh because there were only 2 of us! and most importantly 8) Company and companionship – it is a safe place, a happy place, and a place to meet your neighbours.
I love libraries both sticks and stones and ethereal. I do wish that more libraries were open to all. Electronic merchandise goes poof when your reading time is over, so why can’t we all just ask for a card to their library and not have to live in the local area. I would love to have any American library card, or a British card to allow access to books that seem to not be carried in Canada.
I love this post. And, yes, I wish libraries could be international. Hmm...
DeleteIf looking for a way to support your local library, think of asking for it in the In Memorial. When my father died, we suggested that gifts could be given to the local library (if you ask to give to the central library the book is not housed locally). We donated 7 books and a Book Club Bag (250$ for that one). We choose most of the books, but some were suggested by the doners. They were all something that he would have enjoyed from kids through young adult, fiction and non-fiction. A frontisplate (sp) was put in every book saying that it was in memory of him. The books reside locally, but are available to all to read through the library borrowing system.
ReplyDeleteThat is lovely!
DeleteHub and I always donate books in memory of to the person's local library. I hope someone is enjoying the golf books we donated in memory of his grandfather in Palm Coast, FL :)
DeleteNo matter where I have moved, I always looked for the library first and always got a card. (I looked for the coffee shop second.) Bless all the libraries and the librarians. Their work is so important to maintaining a place of goodness. Honestly, I view libraries as sacred places. When I was a little girl with my own card, my library was a place of safety and comfort. And has remained so to this day.
ReplyDeleteYour priorities are perfection.
DeleteOur book club has relied heavily on our local library system. When I joined a dozen years ago, two of our members were blind, so we always tried to make sure we chose books readily available in all formats, including Braille or audio.
ReplyDeleteThat is a fabulous idea!!
DeleteThat is a wonderful idea! I won a large print mystery novel from one of my favorite authors and after a relative finished reading the book, we donated it to my library.
DeleteDiana
Brilliant!
DeleteI have had a library card from the Atlanta- Fulton County Library System since i was four years old. You had to be able to write your name and I had a long last name so I practiced and practiced and finally was able to do it. My mother was an avid reader so we went to the local library at least once a week. When I was in high school, I worked two afternoons a week and all day on Saturday shelving books and as I got older I was able to move up to the desk and check out books. It was also my summer job in high school. I spent half of my life in one library or another every where that have lived. When I lived in Paris, I had access to the Bibliothèque Sainte Genèviève and the Bibliothèque Nationale.
ReplyDeleteI love libraries!
Paris and libraries...*swoon*
DeleteThank you so much for this ... I am shamelessly (with credit) taking the theme and writing a poem! My favorite part of the chaos of having a new book out is promoting my social media readers to ask their public library to acquire it -- I know less "sales" but the pleasure that folks can read it for free is just wonderful! Two cards -- Portsmouth, NH Public Library and Kittery, Maine Public Library.
ReplyDeleteHere's the thing: my publisher has its own arm of the business that sells just to libraries. Authors who bemoan sales to libraries are missing the big picture. It is a billion dollar industry and if a reader finds you in the library and loves your work, they'll likely splurge and buy your books. ALL GOOD! Keep on promoting libraries, Maren! You're doing it right!
DeleteOften ask the library in my request to order books that I love . Diana
DeleteYes, Jenn, and unlike sellers (especially Amazon, which requires the highest), libraries don't get, or ask for, discounts. Authors get higher royalties from library sales.
DeleteAlso, a librarian doesn't just wait at the desk while patrons browse. We will push your book(s) to new readers. We do this directly--"oh, you like X? Then try Y and Z" and indirectly--staff picks are displayed, in-house book clubs, etc.
DeleteJenn, what a great topic! Always had a library card, growing up. We would drive out to Oakland Public Library several times a year to watch Open Captioned movies for Deaf there. I remember watching Guess Who Is Coming to Dinner with Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn. I think KH's real life niece Katherine Houghton played her daughter in the movie.
ReplyDeleteKensington library card, Rockridge library card (where Sisters in Crime NoCal had a meeting), North Berkeley (SinC events too) library card, El Cerrito library card and Albany library card. I think people with California library cards (anywhere in CA) can borrow books from Sacramento the State Capitol through the Interstate Library system?
Our local library often have library sales and guest author events. When I moved into a smaller place and did not have room for all of my books, I donated most of my books to the local library that was just opening.
There was a ballot approved request for funds for a new library/Community Center and they just finished building the new big facility that was a combination of Two buildings - the Community Center and Library. I donated many books and they are still in use!
Diana
Wonderful, Diana. Hub and I have a book problem and donate heavily. :)
DeleteFollowing up with another reply because I forgot stuff. First, I love Jenn's use of a quote from Neil Gaiman. Always nice to see someone who's literary reputation started in comic books being used for quotations!
ReplyDeleteSecond, I had a library card when I was a kid. Like others, my family were readers. So we had cards from a young age. And back in the late 70's-early 80's, they even had a bookmobile that would come to our neighborhood in the summer and we wouldn't even have to go to the actual library building. We got lots of books that way. Heck, I might've read my first Three Investigators mystery from said bookmobile.
I didn't have a library card for a long time. I didn't have a need because I just bought the books I wanted to read. And I had some issues with how the library seemed to go about things when they wanted more money. They always seemed to frame it as "Give us your money! If you don't, you hate children, kick dogs and are mean to your parents". Call me reactionary but that rubbed me the wrong way.
But when I decided to join the mystery book club in its pre-pandemic version, I signed up for the card for the first time in forever. And it has been paying off handsomely since. And in this day and age when the simple act of reading is coming under attack from people who would clearly benefit from being able to read, a library is something that should be supported in whatever way you are able to do. It may be small, it may be large but every little bit helps.
And remember, anyone who advocates for banning books is the enemy they claim to be looking for.
Jay - your last line made my hair stand on end. Yes. A thousand times yes.
DeleteJay, I remember the bookmobile stopping at the park across from my house when I was a toddler. And my library had a Jane Austen book club. My first book club and it was wonderful. Agree with your last line.
DeleteDiana
Great comment, Jay.
Delete"from people who would clearly benefit from being able to read"--oh yeah!
DeleteOH, YAY, Jenn, what a great post! And I would not be here without my library--starting from the moment I could read. TBH, I am in libraries all the time now--for book presentations. And I am always delighted and enthralled by how gorgeous they are, whether brand brand new or utterly historic. Massachusetts has some truly storied branches, architectural triumphs, and it's always a treat to go. And the BPL is so wonderful that people even have weddings there!
ReplyDeleteANd I used to love to look at the cards in the back of the book that showed who had the book last. oooh. It just crossed my mind what a good clue that would be....
Jay, SO agree with you. Applause.
Yes! Loved to look at the card to see who borrowed the book before me. Diana
DeleteIn high school I used to check out all the books my crush had checked out in case I ever got the nerve to talk to him we'd have something to chat about. LOL.
Delete
ReplyDeleteJenn I remember on of your library mysteries where librarian Lindsay Norris carries out the policy to allow people to return books with no fines. One of the library staff members (as I recall) was quite upset over this new policy!
Jenn were any of the characters or stories in the Library Mystery series from your experiences as a librarian?
The branch librarian in one of the towns where I lived also refused to collect fines because all fines went to the main library and none trickled down to the branch. In lieu of pauying fine, I (and others) would slip ten or twenty bucks every quarter or so to the branch librarian to be used solely for that branch. Sometimes you have to be sneaky in supporting your library.
DeleteMy local library has done away with fines; most materials automatically renew. Patrons still get charged for damaged/lost items.
DeleteLOL - they are an amalgam of librarians I have known over the years - especially, Mrs. Cole. :)
DeleteI loved Mrs. Cole!
DeleteWhen I had a job that had me on the road around Connecticut for a good part of the week, I spent lunch breaks going to local libraries. Most of them let me use my own library card to borrow books, but a handful required me to get a library card from them. Before the pandemic, I split Saturday afternoons between two different libraries, my own and the one in a neighboring town. I sure did miss my library Saturdays during the pandemic. Now I go to the library on Tuesdays.
ReplyDeleteWe were fortunate enough to have the library bookmobile show up in our neighborhood once a week when I was growing up. Parents and kids waited eagerly for it to show up every Thursday. One week I went to the bookmobile on Thursday and as usual I borrowed four books. I read them all after doing my homework. We were in a carpool for school with a neighboring family. The mom whose turn it was to drive the next day asked my parents if they would mind if we stopped at the library on the way home from school the next day. They had no objections! So I brought the four read books with me and I returned them. The lady at the circulation desk asked me why I was returning books I had only just borrowed the day before. I proudly told her “I read them!” Then I borrowed four more!
I was sick quite often when I was in second grade, until finally parting with my tonsils and adenoids in March of that year. My mom, who was home with five small children, didn’t get her drivers license until I was in fourth grade. Whenever I was sick, my dad would go to bookstores on his lunch break, and buy books for me to read while I was recuperating. I couldn’t read them fast enough!
I’m always shocked when someone tells me they never read, or that they don’t know where the library is! I would love to live next door to it!
DebRo
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It is surprising when people aren't library users because they're not just for readers :^/
DeleteI have been an avid reader since I was probably about 4 or 5. In elementary school the librarian saw me so often she gave me new books to review for her and asked me to help her with book displays.
ReplyDeleteAs an adult, I worked in my college library.
I have worked in my local library for many years. We are part of a large network (approximately 43) that people can access with their card and also request material from the Commonwealth of MA which has an even larger database from libraries all over Massachusetts.
In addition to books, we have a ‘library of things’. This is everything from sewing machines, knitting needles, a variety of tools, camping equipment, laptops and much more.
We have subscription services such as Libby, Hoopla and Kanopy which provide online access to books and movies.
There are programs for children which our very creative children’s staff have developed.
We had craft kits and bundles of books that could be picked up for their family when the library was closed to people coming into the buildings.
Books, magazines, DVDs in other languages such as Chinese and Russian.
We have had guest authors such as Hank appear in conversation with other authors.
This is only a small list of what we have to offer.
I am rewarded by my interaction with patrons, especially when I can recommend mystery authors who are new to them. Yes, Reds, you have been included as has this website.
I have shown intimidated technophobes how to use our self-checkout. some don’t want to because they would miss their contact with us.
Our town has always been very supportive of the library.
This is everything a library should be. I donated my sewing machine to the Phoenix Publi Library but it got destroyed in the flood :(
DeleteHanging head, hoping no one notices as I mumble “don’t have a library card, right now”. But was the Only library card holder in my family when I got my first one at age 8. Small town and both my father and mother had been banned from the library in their teens…oh, times were different in the 1930s and 1940s in small town strait laced Connecticut! Have held cards from the King County and Pierce County library systems in Washington State (1970s through early 1990s) and from the Danbury (Connecticut) library that gave access to all libraries in the state. Am cardless in FL right now, but hope to fix that soon. Yay, for get a card month. Elisabeth
ReplyDeleteI'm kind of curious to know how your parents managed to get banned from the library.
DeleteJay, as I remember … Dad for “horse play” with a bunch of boys who included the guys who later married my mother’s sisters and Mother for talking and giggling with a group of friends. Dad and Mother did not know each other when they were banned from the same library.
DeleteElisabeth,
DeleteWhich town in CT? I’m in CT!
DebRo
Your parents are a hoot! I lived in Kent, CT as a kid - very near Danbury!
DeleteWhenever we've moved one of my first acts has been to get a library card. Can't live without it! I currently have my new one from Rockbridge County/Lexington, Virginia. I still use my Houston card for ebooks. Please Houston card, don't expire. As a child I had city of Houston and Harris County library cards. Plus there was also the school library. Such riches!
ReplyDeleteRiches! Exactly.
DeleteWhat a great post, Jenn. I grew up with a Richardson Public Library card and took PILES of books home every week. I can't imagine that I would be writing books if I hadn't had that access. Although I do have a McKinney library card now, I'm embarrassed to admit how little I use it. I buy too many books!! I am, however, very proud of my British Library card. In order to be given a card you have to submit a research proposal that uses material in their collections. If only I could go and work there every day I would be a happy soul!
ReplyDeleteDebs, I wonder if it would be possible for me to do my research at the Library at the Royal Palaces like BP or Windsor?
DeleteDiana
So jealous, Debs!
DeleteSometime, about 65 years ago I got my first card at the Arvada Public Library. Since then I’ve had more than I can remember. Right now my primary card is from Phoenix Public Library. I also have a Tempe Public Library card, Chandler is up next. iAd had a research paper to write my junior year of high school. The local library was a ways from the house so my mom was constantly running me back and forth. At some point she “threatened” to rent me a cubicle to live there. I was thrilled at that idea! Too bad it wasn’t a possibility!!
ReplyDeleteI know! There is something about a study carrel that helps me get things done!
DeleteI have five and I’m always up for searching for more, I LOVE my libraries!
ReplyDeleteWoo hoo! I love it!
DeleteWhen I got my first library card in Van Nuys, California, sometime around 1940, children weree allowed to check out only three books at a time. That was true even if one's mom was right there, saying more would be okay. I finally rectified that situation one summer by checking out the three books in the morning, taking them home and reading them, and returning them the same day. That fouled up the library's antiquated system, so they grudgingly allowed me as many books as I wanted. Each of my three sons had library cards as soon as possible, and I had the fun of reading children's books again, every night just before lights out for the boys. The best part of the day! Now I have a four-year-old great grandson who loves the library, and can take out a great stack of books all on the same day! Major improvement! I have only one library card, but it's good for every branch in the entire Los Angeles city system, and proclaims my trustworthiness when I'm traveling. Libraries--a second home! Lenita
ReplyDeleteNight time story time was my fave part of the day, too, when the hooligans were young. *sigh*
DeleteBut of course I have one. Brooklyn Public Library. Use it regularly too. When I worked in Manhattan, I had 2, so I could use the New York Public branch near my office. (New York has 3 separate library systems)
ReplyDelete3 seperate systems? Hmm. I'm perplexed.
DeleteNYPL serves Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island, Queens Public library serves Queens and has the largest circulation of the three systems, Brooklyn Public Library serves Brooklyn.
DeleteI remember my first card from the Porter County library in Valparaiso IN. Wore it out. Now I have one for Long Beach and one for City of LA. My only consolation when we downsized and had to send 42 boxes of books to The Last Bookstore was that we were moving a block away from the new Main Library, soon to open. The first time I walked into the Billie Jean King Library I cried, it was so beautiful, and libraries mean so much to this kid who grew up in the rust belt without the money to buy books.
ReplyDeleteCity of LA also has a library of things, similar to the one described by Anon above. Parking passes for the national forests? Check. Camping gear? You bet.
I love that libraries have such unexpected perks - like camping gear, etc!
DeleteI have 3 library cards because I'm a truck driver and I love audiobooks. I got my first library card in elementary school. I love to read actual paper books but having the ability to access audiobooks has been wonderful for me.
ReplyDeleteAudiobooks are fabulous while driving - love it!
DeleteI don’t remember when I got my first card from Manatee County Public Library but I was little. I was the kid with the stuffed book bag who started reading the first book as soon as we got in the car to go home.
ReplyDeleteNow I have my Rabun County card. It’s expected since my sister is the assistant librarian. We are fortunate to have a really nice library for a small town and can get anything through the Pines system that covers most Georgia libraries. Now our regional group of 5 libraries is getting a bookmobile!
Bookmobiles are so cool.
DeleteI only have one library card now because my city (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada) has 4 branches and you can use Inter Library Loan for most other branches in Ontario. I had five cards growing up, for five towns between my home and my Dad's work. I could take a bus to any of them and Dad would pick me up on his way home! What a guy!
ReplyDeleteIn my early teens, I would get my five books from my local branch, read them all and bike back for five more the next day. I can't imagine not having a library card.
Chris Wallace
Same. I have discovered most of my favorite authors through the library :)
DeleteI love my library (Milton, MA!) - I spent the morning there yesterday in there using some of the databases it gives me access to. Browsing the new fiction (did you know that books that have a gazillion people queued up to read them are often readily available in the oversized print section?
ReplyDeleteI do remember getting my first library card at the Beverly Hills Public Library. It was orange and it had an embossed metal plate with my name (or number?) like an old credit card.And I remember discovering nonfiction in the children's section and churning my way through biographies of Clara Barton and Ira Gershwin ... and discovering books about Betsy Tacy and Tibb that I hadn't yet read.
Libraries have become so much more essential to the health of a community. The computer access alone is huge. They have really rolled with the times.
You just shared the trade secret - grab the bestsellers in large print if you can't find them on the regular shelf! LOL.
DeleteI have two library cards. One from the neighboring county's library where I was the children's librarian and one from our county library. I have always been a patron of the libraries where we lived. When I was in grade school, I would walk into town every Saturday morning and spend the entire day at the town library reading nonfiction as well as fiction.
ReplyDeleteLook up librarians on horseback. It was part of the WPA project to employ librarians during the depression. Librarians would go on horseback to bring books to people in isolated parts of Kentucky who didn’t have any way of getting to a library.
ReplyDeleteSome wonderful pictures of the women lined up on their horses and climbing hillsides ready to make their deliveries.
That's my dream job! Seriously.
DeleteI got my library card as a child but soon was borrowing from the adult section on my Dad's card. From the time Dad died until after Mom died, I just bought books and donated most to the library. Also supported Dauphin County Library System and the Kline Friends financially. Mom just didn't read as fast as Dad and I did. After she died, I started getting the more expensive books from the library and still buying a lot. I usually buy a few books at the book sales.
ReplyDeleteFriends of the Library have the best book sales.
DeleteI have San Diego City, San Diego County, LA, San Jose, Redwood City (where my sister and I worked as pages in high school with the most fun-loving librarians ever!) and Multnomah library cards. All of them (outside of San Diego) are to feed my e-book habit. Getting a card from a big library system like Los Angeles usually means I can find any title I want, but sometimes it’s the littlest library that will have it. And I worked as an elementary school librarian for years so am a huge proponent of libraries. Thanks for this post, Jenn! — Pat S
ReplyDeleteGreat to meet you in person, Pat!
DeleteYou bet, Pat! Library Lovers Unite!
DeleteI love getting audio books from the library!
ReplyDeleteFrom Fiona, first time commenting. I love my library. I have been an avid reader of the Jungle Red posts and comments for about a year now. i couldn't resist commenting today. I grew up having four library cards, usually three at a time, Montreal, Quebec or Windsor, Ontario; Stowe, Vermont; and Eastham, Massachusetts. Public libraries were my favorite place to be and are responsible for some of my strongest childhood memories, mostly all positive. I am immensely grateful to my mother who was an avid reader and who took me to the library often. Wherever I moved I used to volunteer at the local library. My favorite was in a small town in Vermont. The librarian was Veronica. She and her spouse Euclid were interesting people, for many years the moving force behind the Union agricultural Society that ran the Tunbridge (Vermont) World's Fair (Coming up September 14-17, worth going to for the agricultural exhibits and the maple cotton candy/candy floss). I did a research paper several months ago on libraries eliminating overdue fines. I was shocked and pleased to find out that one of the rare libraries to eliminate fines in the late 1960s-early 1970s was the public library in Windsor, Ontario adn it was the same time as when we lived there. I even found an editorial in support of the fines free policy in the Windsor Star, the newspaper that my father worked for. I'm so glad that the trend these days of eliminating overdue fines is taking hold. My current local library was an early adopter of no fines. It's part of a 60-odd municipalities library system, many of which are within ten miles of me. Ordering books through the system's catalogue is a fabulous resource for us rural readers. It makes me proud and happy that my state funds libraries so well. Funding means so much, our little library went from a miserable underutilized space which was barely open to a vibrant, award-winning, welcoming, highly trafficked place when our town voted in favor of increasing property taxes by a miniscule amount, around 1%. This is enjoyable for me but truly valuable for the residents of the two villages near the library, many of whom live below the poverty line. My home library is the library of Yes while one about eight miles away I call the library of No. It's fascinating how library and library trustee policies can affect the atmosphere and delivery of services to people who use the library. I could go on forever but I'll spare you. Thank you for having such wonderful posts and comments. You've created a lovely community. Fiona
ReplyDelete